Two Game Sevens and the Return of KG the Kid

Now that the first round of the 2012 NBA Playoffs has officially ended, let’s look at a few trends that emerged. Only two teams scored series sweeps, both happened in the Western Conference: The San Antonio Spurs swept the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder erased the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. Only two series went seven games and they were the other two series in the West: the Los Angeles Lakers eked out a 4-3 win over the Denver Nuggets behind big games from Pau Gasol, Steve Blake, Andrew Bynum, and Kobe Bryant. Meanwhile the Los Angeles Clippers survived a physical series with the Memphis Grizzlies in their own Game Seven thanks to strong bench play that negated Blake Griffin disappearing when he was needed most. Thus, the Western Conference Semifinals will see the top-seeded Spurs battling the Clippers while the marquee match-up will see the Thunder hosting the Lakers as both L.A. teams stay alive.

With the Clippers advancing, all eyes will be on the dream match-up at the point guard spot between Tony Parker and Chris Paul. These two MVP contenders will be battling it out so it will have to fall to their respective benches to determine the winner. Even as Tim Duncan nears retirement, the new power forward on the block (namely Griffin) is poised to take over for him. But until Griffin stops flopping and just throwing up wild shots with no semblance of a real post game, expect Duncan to use his veteran smarts to school the youngster.

There is some recent history between the Lakers and the Thunder, and it’s not the good kind. Metta World Peace’s elbow on James Harden might be the most replayed thing we’ll see in this series, but there are other stories to look at. Consider former Laker Derek Fisher trying to eliminate the team that he won five championships with, or his close relationship with Kobe Bryant. Both have described it as being “like brothers” but like any siblings, one definitely wants to destroy the other. The tag teams of Gasol and Bynum versus Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka are expected to bang and crash in the paint. But most of all, the explosive offenses of the top two scorers this season (Kevin Durant and Bryant) will be on full display. Call it the old school versus the new school if you will, but all eyes will be on LA and OKC over the next few games.

Over in the East, the number one seed Chicago Bulls, decimated by injuries to 2011 MVP Derrick Rose and defensive anchor Joakim Noah, were barely beaten by the Philadelphia 76ers in six games, but Philly finally got out of the first round for the first time since 2002. The Boston Celtics also took out the Atlanta Hawks despite the return of Al Horford to the Atlanta roster when Kevin Garnett discovered the Fountain of Youth while playing center for Boston. This sets up a match-up between the veteran Celtics and the no-name Sixers, a classic rivalry that dates back to the 80s and even the 60s. Garnett’s stellar play carried over to the second round when he had 29 points on top of another Rondo triple-double to snatch a 92-91 squeaker in Game One. Don’t expect Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams, and the rest of the Sixers to roll over in this one because Coach Doug Collins seems to have convinced his team that the sky’s the limit in these playoffs.

The Indiana Pacers were supposed to sweep the Dwight Howard-less Orlando Magic but lost Game One. Still, they did enough to recover and won the series 4-1. The Miami Heat was also heavily favored to destroy the New York Knicks and even after bizarre circumstances (injuries to Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis, Amar’e Stoudemire’s brush with a glass case holding a fire extinguisher,) Miami did advance past New York 4-1. When LeBron James received his third Most Valuable Player award prior to the first game versus the Pacers, the pressure only mounted on him and the rest of the Heat to secure the championship this year. After a 95-86 win over Indiana in Game One of their Eastern Semifinals match-up, even after Chris Bosh’s abdominal strain, it’s hard not seeing Miami parading into the next round. David West and Roy Hibbert may have scored 17 points apiece here, but they’re going to need some help if they hope to derail Miami after James and Dwyane Wade combined to outscore 42-38 in the second half.

Only eight teams are left standing in these playoffs and the overall number one seed (Chicago) has been sent packing with the defending champions in Dallas. Miami now stands as the heavy favorite while San Antonio’s regular season record and experience entrenches them as tops out West. Will these two roll over the remaining teams and eventually clash in the 2012 NBA Finals?

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